I had made some really good friends on this course at Aqua World, Cancun and they too were keen on going to check out these dive islands of Honduras. All three of us, Steve, Malin and I were fresh instructors looking for a start in the industry. What better place to start looking than on Roatan, The Bay Islands, Honduras.

We arrived on Roatan after about 5 days of traveling on chicken busses through Belize, with a quick stop at the blue hole on the way, and slight detour through the Guatemalan countryside. It was so good to finally be back on island time and not have to see the imposed American advertisements and fast food culture that Mexico offers. Getting to West End Roatan, felt as good as getting home after a years worth of traveling,  the pace of life there is so slow and so laid back, its great, not to mention beautiful.

After no more than two weeks on the island we were all working full time as instructors, putting our well spent money and newly learned skills to use. I was working for a shop called Suneo Del Mar Divers and Steve and Malin were working for a resort called Las Rocas. I was the primary instructor at the shop, working for an amazing guy called Charles Barry Ninim. Barry was an ex US marine, Vietnam war veteran, and an extremely experienced diver, who had been diving and teaching for many years off the savage coast of California, among other places world wide. Little did I know that this is where I would really start to learn about teaching scuba diving! Barry taught me many things and helped me whenever I needed it, and even when I didn’t; I think I also taught him one or two things, so you can teach old dogs new tricks!

We became very good friends, one of the best I have ever made in fact, and as he was much older than me I found many fatherly qualities that I could identify within him.

My diving knowledge and experience by now was progressing with great speed, and with this, the quality of my instruction was also rising exponentially.